Bruises are Temporary, but Love is Forever
by barefoot11
Summary: When he was asked how he met Gilbert, it was awkward. "Ah, well, he sort of hit me with a golf ball..." AU


Mini-golf. They had invited him to mini-golf? Had he heard them right?

"Excuse me? Are you inviting the _awesome_ me to play a round of… _mini-golf_?"

Ludwig had the decency to look embarrassed. He rubbed his hands together. "It wasn't… my idea," he defended.

Coming out from behind him, Feliciano chirped, "I think it'll be so much fun! I invited my _fratello_, too!"

Gilbert wasn't so sure. He scrunched up his nose and looked at the beer he had just opened. "But… it's Saturday," he said, as if that proved the argument invalid.

"That's the point," Feliciano replied. "It's so nice and pretty out! The sun is all smiley and the birds are singing! Wouldn't it be so much fun to be outside with them?"

He paused. "'The sun is all smiley'?" he quoted, confused.

Ludwig shook his head.

Feliciano continued, "Please, Gilbert? It'd be much, much more fun if you came with us!"

Gilbert looked to the television. He had seen that episode already… "Aw, hell. Why not? I'm sure in the mood to kick some ass." He put the beer on the side table and jumped from his seat.

"Now," Ludwig said, looking pained, "this isn't a competition. It's just a day out among friends, right? No one's fighting anyone, no one's _kicking_ anything, and…"

From outside, Gilbert called, "Are ya comin', Luddie?"

"Ve," Feliciano said, peering out the doorway, "Gilbert runs so fast!"

* * *

Lovino got the red ball, Feliciano got the green, Ludwig took the yellow, and of course Gilbert got black. It was the best color, after all. The first hole, of course, was pretty simple – the hole was straight in front of them, and the only thing preventing them from getting the ball in there was a tiny bump a few feet before it.

Easy as pie.

Ludwig, it was decided, would go first. He had to still be the stick-in-the-mud, though, by executing his shot with as much military precision as possible. He took a few practice swings without the ball, and then he put the ball down. He'd look from the ball to the hole – back to the ball, then back to the hole. Then he'd move a bit, trying to get the perfect angle. After what seemed like years, he hit it.

And got a hole in one.

Feliciano was more excited than Ludwig at the feat – he ran over, and tackled Ludwig in a hug. He kept shouting, "Ve, that was so cool!"

Ludwig smiled a bit, and told Feliciano that it was his turn. So Ludwig got his yellow ball from the hole, and moved to stand around a meter behind Gilbert.

"What the heck?" Gilbert asked his brother, in response to his movement.

Ludwig said, "Feliciano… doesn't really know how to play. It's safer to stay as far away as possible in case he accidently lets go of the club." He rubbed his shoulder, as if remembering.

Lovino snorted. "Understatement of the century."

Feliciano, with the broadest grin, simply put the ball down and swung.

He missed, but he tried again.

Another miss, but his smile was just as strong.

Finally, he hit it – it went over the bump, beside the hole, hit against the edge of the green, and bounced back. It sat right where it had originally.

Feliciano thought that that was amazing. "Did you see that?" he asked, pointing excitedly, "I almost got it in the hole!"

Ludwig nodded. "Very good, Feli."

"Stupid potato bastard," Lovino said under his breath, "patronizing my brother…"

"Your turn, _fratello_!" Feliciano exclaimed, moving to stand beside Gilbert.

Gilbert, of course, when deciding the order, had used the phrase _saving the best for last_.

"Che," Lovino said, disinterestedly. He put the ball down, swung, and it ended up just a few inches away from the hole.

"That's pretty good, Lovino," Gilbert said, strutting his way over, "but watch this." He shook his any nervousness free and prepared the ball just right. He swung. The ball rolled over the bump, and hit the back of the green like Feliciano's had. But it didn't bounce back – it just sat there, resting against the wood.

Lovino laughed. "Wow, I did so much better."

Gilbert glared.

"My turn again, then," Feliciano said, smiling as he went to hit his ball again. He only missed once that time, and when he finally hit it, it rolled right into the hole.

"Wow," Ludwig said, holding the score card and writing down his friend's score, "you did it."

Feliciano was all giggles when he picked it up. Then he went over to Ludwig he asked, "So that's a two for me, right? Since it took me two times to hit it?" He needed to make sure he hadn't gotten the scoring system confused with anything else.

"Right," he confirmed, though he had been tempting to add the four times Feliciano had swung and missed. But that wasn't nice, even if it was following the rules...

"Ve," he replied, "two's a pretty number."

Lovino set up his shot, and knocked it right in the hole. "Make that a two for me as well," he said, smirking. Then, to Gilbert he added, "See if you can beat that."

"Oh, I'll beat that so bad it'll be seeing stars!" he snapped.

"Ve, don't hurt the numbers!"

Gilbert ignored that. He walked over to his ball, and hit it. It stopped a few centimeters before the hole.

Lovino laughed obnoxiously. "Seeing stars, right."

"I'm still getting warmed up," shouted Gilbert, finally getting it in the hole on his third try.

* * *

It went on like that for the next six holes.

On the seventh one, Gilbert was near bursting a vein. At Lovino's sly grin (he had just gotten a hole in one), he shouted, "Oh, this time you are _so_ going down!"

Anger blocked all of his common sense. He dropped the ball, and swung as hard as he possibly could. He turned around to face the group. "I bet you couldn't hit it that _far_, though!"

A shrill scream suddenly came from behind him, but Gilbert didn't hear it.

Ludwig was pale. "G – Gilbert, you –"

"What, Ludwig? What in the _world_ could you possibly have to say to me right now?"

Feliciano's eyes were wide, and a hand covered his mouth.

Ludwig gulped. "You… you…"

Lovino was bent over in laughter, and he barked, "You freakin' hit that dude with your golf ball, you jackass!"

Gilbert blinked, all fury falling from his system. "What?"

Between laughs, Lovino continued, "That – that guy was just ridin' on his bike and your golf ball hit 'im straight in the forehead! Oh, the hilarity!"

He turned around quickly, fearing lawsuits, to see a toppled bike and a body underneath it. "Aw, hell," he cursed, dropping his golf club and running toward the heap.

Feliciano was worried. He pulled on Ludwig's shirt. "What if that guy's name is 'Two'? Then Gilbert would have beaten him, right? Like he said he would? So that means he wasn't lying!" He gasped, tears coming to his eyes.

* * *

Gilbert bent over the person. "Dude, please tell me you're not unconscious. I seriously can't afford –... well, hello there." His eyebrows quirked up in interest, seeing the shiny hair and soft features.

Opening his eyes and watching the blurred world come into his vision, Matthew held his head. "My glasses," he said weakly.

Gilbert was quick to pick the spectacles off the ground and hand them over.

"Th-Thank you," he said, sitting up as well as he could with his bike on top of him.

"Are ya alright?"

Matthew rubbed his forehead, where a large and round bruise was forming. "My head just hurts, but I think I'll be okay… do you know what happened?"

Becoming meek, Gilbert said, "Uh, well… I… I sort of… well, I was playin' golf over there and I guess I got a bit… overdramatic. My buddies say that my ball hit you straight in the face." Then he added, "M'sorry."

"That's… that's okay. Can you just help me up?" he asked, trying to push the bike off of himself. "I think my foot got caught somewhere in this mess…"

"Oh, sure." Gilbert found where the other's foot was jammed, and moved it around a bit until it was free. "There," he said, "all better."

Matthew smiled. "Thank you."

That smile resolved Gilbert's inner conflict. "Welcome. Hey, you think maybe in order to pay you back for this whole thing, I could buy ya lunch?"

Matthew stood and wiped the dirt from his pants. "Right now?" he asked, not looking at him.

"Well, uh, yeah. That is, unless your head's hurtin' too much…"

He picked up his bike and held it by the handlebars. "Don't worry about it. Lunch sounds great." And he smiled again, making Gilbert smile goofily in return.

"My name's Gilbert, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.

Matthew shook it firmly. "Matthew."

* * *

"Oh dear," Ludwig said, watching them, "Gilbert's trying to make a friend. That poor boy…"

Feliciano laughed. "No, silly! I think he likes Gilbert a lot."

"How can you possibly tell?"

With a gleam in his eye, he replied, "I just know!"

* * *

**A/N**: Feli's so much fun to write when I can actually get into his head. Sometimes there are just too many lollipops and candycanes to find his personality, but I think I found it this time. :)

(Even though I can't write his brother to save my life. P:)

This was inspired by a video I saw on _It Only Hurts When I Laugh_. It's like a PG-13 version of _America's Funniest Home Videos_, if you've seen that.


End file.
